


talk me down

by eclipsecard



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Sakaki Yuya has Hanahaki Disease, Suicide Attempt, in which Shun kinda sucks as a person, sort of.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 00:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19346281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eclipsecard/pseuds/eclipsecard
Summary: Shun always kept the lights off when they had intimate moments. Yuya never minded it. His boyfriend had preferences. That’s okay.But Shun never said his name during those moments, either.





	talk me down

Yuya thinks he’s good at hiding things from people.

 

Whether it’s a dark secret, a failed test paper, Duel Disks when he wants to pull jokes on friends. He finds that he’s very good at the art of hiding things he doesn’t want other people to find.

 

But some things can’t be hidden.

 

Like the blue flower petals that clawed his way up his throat and into his cupped hands while he was laying in bed with his boyfriend Shun one night. He couldn’t see the petals or the blood on his hands, but he certainly could feel them. Shun always kept the lights off when they had intimate moments. Yuya never minded it. His boyfriend had preferences. That’s okay.

 

But Shun never said his name during those moments, either.

 

So, it wasn’t that hard to figure out why the petals were coming.

 

He just hoped they’d stop one day. That’s why he stayed, in hopes that one day, Shun would fall in love with his personality, and not just his face.

 

So he tried to hide them. And it worked, for a while.

 

But he couldn’t hide it this time.

 

“Yuya?” Shun’s voice pulled Yuya back into reality, and out of his thoughts. “Are you okay?” He asks, sitting up. He reaches over to the side and turns on the small lamp on the table at his side of the bed.

 

He froze when he saw the petals in Yuya’s hand, and said nothing more.

 

Yuya wouldn’t dare meet his eyes. He just stared down into his palms, at the dark blue petals spotted with blood.

 

“Yuya, what the hell is going on? Do you need to go to the hospital?” Shun asks, leaning over. He moves a hand up to tuck a strand of green hair behind Yuya’s ear - his voice was shaking with worry, and it made Yuya feel guilty.

 

He couldn’t tell Shun that he knew.

  
“Yu…?” Yuto’s voice comes this time, from inside his head. Yuya could see the faint figure of his counterpart beside him, but he did not look up to meet his eyes. “Would you please talk to Shun? Or me? Please, just say something,” His tone is concerned, and he feels something ice cold on his bare shoulder - Yuto has placed his hand there.

 

Yuya climbs out of bed. He throws the petals in the nearby trashcan and washes his hands in the sink of his and Shun’s bathroom before grabbing his clothes and getting dressed. “I’m sorry,” He says, before putting his shoes on and walking out of the room. He can’t face Shun any longer. It’s too hard.

 

He doesn’t really know where he’s going when he walks out into the freezing night air, but he eventually finds himself on Yuzu’s doorstep. He knocks, as hard as his now numb hands could possibly manage.

 

Yuzu opens the door, and her hair is a mess, and she’s in her pajamas. Yuya must have woken her up. He feels guilty again.

 

“Yuya…?” She mumbles tiredly, squinting at him. She guides him inside. “What are you doing out there without a coat?” She fusses worriedly. “It’s one in the morning, what’s going on?” She grabs a fluffy blue blanket from the back of the couch and wraps it around him.

 

When Yuya doesn’t answer, Yuzu knows not to push any further. 

 

Instead, she gently guides him through the dark house and into the guest bedroom he knows all too well. She helps him into bed, running a hand through his hair.

 

“Are you sure you don’t wanna talk about it?” She asks once more, but Yuya shakes his head. She nods. “Get some sleep then, okay?”   
  
She exits the room, closing the door very carefully behind her.

 

Yuya notices Yuto’s silence, and he wonders to himself if his partner is okay as he drifts into sleep.

 

\--

 

The next day, Yuzu finds him on the floor of her bathroom with petals in his lap, and blood staining his thighs. He’s in the middle of coughing up an entire dark teal flower when she freezes in the doorway.

 

Yuya looks up to meet her eyes, widened with terror and filled with tears.

 

She leans against the doorframe, shaking.    
  


“Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

-

 

Yuzu and Yuya spend that day together. He prefers not to talk about the flowers, so she doesn’t press. Instead, they watch movies and duel playfully. It’s nice to just be able to have fun with someone - he always feels like he can be himself with Yuzu, unlike with Shun.

 

Shun always wanted him to be Yuto.

 

-

 

The next day though, Yuya wakes up to several voices in the living room. He comes out to see his friends - almost all of them - talking together.

 

And Shun.

 

They lock eyes when Yuya enters the living room, and before he knows it, another flower is clawing up his throat and out of his mouth. He catches it in his hands, but he can’t hide it. He stumbles, and leans against the wall to hold himself up.

 

Everyone turns to look at him, their eyes filled with concern, fear, pity-

 

But Yuzu’s expression quickly changes to anger, as she realizes exactly what is going on here. The petals colored blue like Shun’s hair, Yuya’s refusal to go back home, to look at his own boyfriend just now - She whips around to face Shun, who was standing behind her.

 

_ “You!-”   _ She meets his eyes, and quickly moves forward, raising her fist -- but Serena catches it, as well as her other hand when she tries to hit Shun with that one as well. Serena holds both of Yuzu’s hands behind her back, restraining the pink haired girl as she screams.

“You bastard! How could you?!” She keeps trying to break away from Serena, glaring daggers at Shun - Serena does not let go.

 

Shun looks at her, and all Yuya can see in his expression is hurt, and guilt. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He closes it again, and looks away, refusing to meet Yuzu’s eyes - but he doesn’t meet Yuya’s either. Instead, he looks at the floor.

 

Yuzu continues, but Yuya blocks her out. He sits on a chair at the kitchen counter after tossing the flower away and washing his hands. 

 

He sees Yuto sitting on the counter in front of him.

 

“I’m sorry,” Yuto begins, and Yuya has no idea what he’s sorry about. “I-It’s gotta be my fault, right? None of this would have happened if we didn’t look alike- or- or if we just hadn’t met in the first place-”

 

_ If we just hadn’t met in the first place- _

 

Yuya feels a metaphorical punch to the gut at that, and he feels the tears coming. He puts his goggles on so no one will see it. He doesn’t know how to respond.

 

“Yuya?” He hears a voice behind him, and it doesn’t belong to Yuto. 

 

He does not want to speak to anyone right now, much less Shingo Sawatari. So he shifts and stares at his hands in his lap. He tries desperately to ignore his fellow duelist - but he knows Shingo’s not going to back down until they talk.

 

“What’s wrong?” Shingo asks, placing a hand on his shoulder.

 

Yuya whips around to face him, and all he can feel is anger. He doesn’t know where it comes from, but suddenly, he’s snapping at Shingo.

“What the hell do you THINK? I don’t know, maybe the fact that my boyfriend never really loved me, I’ve been coughing up flowers for months, and now my ghost crush is telling me that he wishes we never met! But seriously Shingo,  _ you tell me what’s wrong, because I can’t seem to figure it out!” _

Yuya doesn’t notice that everyone has stopped their separate conversations, and are now staring at him in surprise.

 

Shingo has backed away from him, toward Gongenzaka.

 

Yuya says nothing more. He pulls his goggles up, and his bloodshot, tear filled eyes are in full view. His friends look concerned, and Shun steps forward a bit to comfort him - Yuzu casts a hard glare at the dark-haired boy, and he stops. Yuya slides off of the chair and starts to walk out, making sure that his left shoulder collides with Shun’s when he pushes past him.

 

When he shuts the door, he slams it as hard as he can. Part of him hopes he didn’t break it, but the other part of him couldn’t care less.

 

When Yuya is gone, everyone turns to look at Shun. Yuzu does not hesitate to start screaming again. This time, when Yuzu swings her fist, Serena accidentally forgets to stop her from punching Shun square in the jaw.

 

Shun says nothing to defend himself - and it’s not like he’s going to hit her back - he looks over at his sister on the other side of the room, but she won’t meet his eyes. She turns her head completely to look beside her at Rin instead. He feels a pit in his stomach - not even his sister will look at him.

 

In a corner on the opposite side of the room, Yuri is watching the door.

 

He waits a few minutes before slipping out when no one is looking. He finds the direction Yuya is headed in, and follows a bit of a ways away. He’s concerned - he doesn’t want Yuya to be alone like this. What if his counterpart does something rash?

 

When he notices that Yuya is walking very quickly towards the direction of his home, Yuri raises a brow. Why wouldn’t Yuya just go back to his own place?

 

When Yuya arrives, he unlocks the door - ah, right, Yuri gave him that key last week, he remembers - and heads inside. Yuri gives him a good ten minutes alone. He then realizes Yuya could knock over one of his potted plants and rushes in behind him.

 

-

 

“Yuya!” Yuto yells from in front of Yuya. He tries to pull Yuri’s duel disk off of Yuya’s arm, but his hands just go through his counterpart instead. “You can’t do this, you can’t! Please, Yuya, don’t- don’t do it-  _ you can’t just card yourself!”  _ He screams, his voice shaking with fear.

 

Yuya looks up at him, with eyes filled with anger, and fear, and- sadness, maybe. “Why not?!” He cries out.

 

“Because-” Yuto starts, his transparent form trembling, “Because I-”

 

_ “Because I love you!” _

 

Yuya freezes.

 

The arm holding Yuri’s duel disk drops to his side, and the device deactivates. His eyes meet Yuto’s, and he opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. It’s almost like he can’t believe it - was Yuto just lying to make him feel better? Why would he choose now to say it if he was telling the truth? Why not when he started coughing up the petals to begin with?

 

Yuya drops to his knees, holding his head in his hands. He cries out, sobbing into his palms. Yuto sits beside him, and when Yuya’s entire body feels cold, he knows his ghost partner is hugging him to the best of his ability.

 

“Yuya? What’s going on?” 

 

Yuya looks up and turns around. Yuri is standing in the doorway. “Why do you have my duel disk on?” His Fusion counterpart asks, walking over to stand in front of him.

 

Yuya stands on shaky legs, and looks at him. He can’t stop himself from sobbing even harder.  _ “I’m sorry-”  _ Oh god, Yuri’s going to hate him, he’s going to think he’s a pathetic and cowardly duelist-

 

Yuri frowns. He gently pulls the duel disk off of the other boys arm and sets it aside, pulling him into a hug. “What are you sorry for?”

 

Yuya immediately starts talking - so fast, however, that Yuri can’t make out a single word he’s saying. “Hey- wait- slow down, please.” He sighs.

 

Yuya stops, having been brought back to reality by Yuri’s voice. “S-Sorry… um.” He shifts, silently wondering if he’s annoying Yuri with all of this. He doesn’t want to be annoying... “I-I- I took your duel disk because- because I was going to-” 

 

Yuri nods, urging him to go on.

 

“...I was going to card myself so Yuto could have my body and be with Shun indefinitely-” He manages, and his voice cracks.

 

Yuri freezes. Why would his solution be death?  “...What made you stop?” He asks. It’s not like he  _ wants  _ Yuya to do that to himself - he just wants to know what his thought process is. It’s interesting to him.

 

Yuya looks away. “Because Yuto told me he loved me.”

 

Yuri almost laughed. “Well, I’m glad he did, then…”

 

Yuya yawns, burying his face in the soft fabric of Yuri’s t-shirt. “Yeah... “

 

The purple haired duelist hums, running a hand through Yuya’s hair. He hesitates, before suddenly picking the other boy up. 

“H-Huh?” Yuya looks at him, confused.

 

He realizes what’s going on when Yuri drops him onto his bed, putting the fuzzy purple blanket over him. “Sleep. Crying makes you exhausted, I’ve heard.” 

 

Yuya looks at him. “Are you sure?” He asks softly. Yuri nods. 

 

“I’ll be back later, get some rest,” His purple haired counterpart says, exiting the room.

 

Yuya looks around for Yuto, but he doesn’t see him. He does hear him in his mind though - Yuto urges him to sleep, so he does, drifting off slowly.

 

\--

 

_ Yuya sees white when he opens his eyes, and nothing more. When he looks around, his eyes fall on a smiling Yuto sitting next to him. His figure is solid, and Yuya realizes he is asleep, and standing in the wide expanse of his mind. This isn’t exactly new - it’s happened once or twice before. Maybe Yuto wants to talk to him? _

 

_ “Hey,” His XYZ counterpart greets, reaching out to gently grab his hands. Yuto’s aren’t as soft as Yuya expected, but he’s not surprised that they’re rough and calloused - he did take part in a war. _

 

_ “Hi.” Yuya responds, replicating the soft smile Yuto gives him. He leans on his counterpart’s shoulder, and the other boy wraps an arm around him - he can feel it this time, and it’s not just cold air. Yuya feels tears in his eyes, and he clings to Yuto with both of his arms. _

 

_ Most of their time together is spent in each other’s arms. Yuto makes Yuya feel safe. More so than Shun ever has. _

 

_ But Yuto eventually breaks the silence. He has questions - and Yuya doesn’t blame him. He’s okay with listening and answering. _

 

_ “Why were you going to do it?” He asks softly. _

 

_ Yuya frowns, and hesitates - what if Yuto hates him after this? - but he opens his mouth and speaks. “I wanted you and Shun to be happy. I was just an obstacle in your way,” He explains, and his voice cracks just a bit. _

 

_ Yuto pulls Yuya closer, almost protectively. He seems to think for a few minutes, before gently grabbing Yuya’s face and pulling him closer, into a gentle kiss.  _

 

_ Yuya relaxes against him and returns the gesture. _

 

_ It’s nice to be loved. _


End file.
